Comments on: Is IKEA Hong Kong A Real IKEA?

By: Bei Houzi

Bei Houzi — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:31:35 +0000

I'm a Brit moving back to HK from Shanghai and was all geared up to order everything from IKEA online (as I hate walking around IKEA) so imagine how disappointed I was to find that their HK website is quite simply awful. The author is correct to raise the issues he has because this website is lacking almost everything one wants from such a website. Simply awful, no ability to search for products, no online shopping system and a terrible look and feel. I'm now hunting around for alternative suppliers of home furniture.

By: Tre

Tre — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:33:38 +0000

I'm a Canadian living and working in Hong Kong at the moment. I'm not sure what people mean by saying Hong Kong's Ikea is not 'real'. The only difference I see between the Ikeas in Ontario, Canada and the ones in Hong Kong is that the ones in Hong Kong are smaller by comparison (don't have room for the warehouses like they do in Canada) but other than that everything is 'the same'. What is real anymore? I just found out earlier (although a bit late) that Tommy Hilfiger is no longer owned by Hilfiger but was bought out by another corporation. So does that mean Tommy is no longer 'Tommy'? Just like a lot of the European car companies went bankrupt and was bought out by other South Asian car companies so are they 'fake' now? This is hard to say what is real anymore these days…

By: Bert

Bert — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:33:29 +0000

Even it is franchised, it should be part of the contract to ensure the website design and messages are aligned. One of the key thing I dislike about IKEA Hong Kong is that the website cannot really search any products. You can only read the "online catalog". I have switched to IKEA China website for years. IKEA China's website is much better, aligned with Global design and is user friendly.

By: Izzie Nutz

Izzie Nutz — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:38:31 +0000

What is real anymore? Calvin Klein is 100% licensed. So is Pierre Cardin. Most restaurant chains are franchised, even in the US. What is the boundary of real?

By: Mail Entries

Mail Entries — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:15:06 +0000

Thanks for the sharing. We were looking for this!

By: Robert Baum

Robert Baum — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:24:56 +0000

Most companies localize their marketing efforts. What you see is a reflection of how IKEA wants to attract the people in your area. Not everything is vertical as you pointed out.

By: Alex Hau

Alex Hau — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:23:41 +0000

From what I understand IKEA Hong Kong is a part of the Jardines Group. They probably licensed the name and products similar in ways of franchising.

So no, IKEA HK is probably not the real IKEA. (just like how Starbucks in HK is a joint venture between Maxim HK and Starbucks in the U.S. BTW, Maxim also belongs to Jardines as is 7-Eleven, Mannings, Wellcome, Pizza Hut, Hongkong Land, Mandarin Oriental, etc.)

By: Alex Hau

Alex Hau — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:19:22 +0000

From what I understand IKEA Hong Kong is a part of the Jardine group. They probably licensed the name and products similar in ways of franchising.

So no, IKEA HK is not the real IKEA.